The Last Rites

The Last Rites', a silent film, by Yasmine Kabir, depicts the ship breaking yards of Chittagong, Bangladesh- a final destination for ships that are too old to ply the oceans any longer.

Every year, hundreds of ships are sent to yards in Bangladesh. And every year, thousands of people keep coming in search of jobs in these yards. Risking their lives to save themselves from hunger, they breathe in asbestos dust and toxic waste. Viewed from a distance, the workers appear dwarfed by the sheer enormity of the ships. The monolithic structures of the ships present a stark contrast to the human workers in their vulnerability. The elemental struggle between man and metal figures throughout the film, as men carrying the weight of steel ropes over their shoulders pull huge parts of the vessels inland; workers bearing great metal plates, like pallbearers, taking the ship to its final destination and children rolling gas cylinders, carrying oil sludge, and swinging from the ships' ropes. Alongside these exist scattered images of fishermen, struggling to eke out a living by the yards. What emerges, in a greater context, is the tragedy of the human condition. ' ' The Last Rites' is an allegorical portrayal of the agony of hard labor.